Cobourg Council to Regulate Transition House

John Draper

As previously reported, Cobourg is negotiating with the County to establish what is allowed at the new Transition house location at 310 Division. The idea is to get an agreement similar to what was agreed in Whitby. But there is a “Plan B”.  If an agreement cannot be reached, then Council has voted to implement a By-Law that would require “Emergency Care Establishments” to be licensed with requirements similar to that agreed in the “Whitby” agreement. At the Council meeting on 28 February, Council passed the Licensing by-law to be in effect March 28 which is the day after the next Council meeting. The date is a month later than the timeline originally proposed so it can be repealed if… Read complete articleCobourg Council to Regulate Transition House

Council Agrees to Fire Fighters Museum Lease

John Draper

As reported on Cobourg blog (see Resources), the Town is working with the Fire Fighters Museum Board to lease the Memorial Arena as their new location.  In a repeat report at the Council meeting on 28 February, the lease was again discussed with a report by Director Geerts and a verbal presentation from the Fire Fighters’ board (speaker not identified).  One key point as made by Director Geerts, is that the lease looks like a good use of the Arena and “we don’t have a better idea for the Arena”.  If the Arena is not leased, the Town would still have the cost of operating an empty building.  One new issue debated was the board’s request for free rent for the… Read complete articleCouncil Agrees to Fire Fighters Museum Lease

February Council Update

John Draper

The Council meeting on Wednesday February 28 was busy so my reporting will take a few days. There were decisions on 310 Division, the Firefighters’ museum and Parking, plus Miriam Mutton was really unhappy about the way an upgrade to Council Chamber was handled. Although Mayor Lucas Cleveland said he understood and appreciated her concern, he said she is one of seven and the others don’t agree. This post will cover Parking and Miriam’s concerns – the others will be covered in later reports. As well as these four items, Council covered 28 other items (by my count) including approval of seven sets of minutes and two closed session matters. I note that it now seems that closed sessions happen… Read complete articleFebruary Council Update

Trinity Affordable Housing Phase 2 re-organized

John Draper

In 1990, Trinity Housing opened a 20 unit apartment building at 25 James Street East (corner of John Street) for low income tenants with Rent Geared to Income.  But around 2018, an expansion of 27 units was planned and Trinity Housing of Cobourg Phase 2 (THCP2) was formed. Like phase one, the expansion would be a not-for-profit corporation owned by Trinity Church.  In January 2019, they asked Cobourg Council for financial support but only a fraction of their ask was approved.  Early this year, the managing board decided that “this endeavour has proved to be more difficult than imagined. The many drawings, plans and studies required resulted in many upfront costs and the estimate for the cost of construction has… Read complete articleTrinity Affordable Housing Phase 2 re-organized

RFP Issued for Development of Old CDCI West Playing Fields

John Draper

Officially known as 117 Durham Street, the Town bought the land in 2022 but it took until March 2023 before Council directed what should be done with it.  And now, an RFP has been issued on February 23 to call for development proposals. Although the “primary objective of the call for proposals is to recuperate costs from the purchase of the property” it is also hoped it will help “address the housing crisis”. Council directed that “the lands be a balanced mix of parkland, market and affordable residential units.” Some of the property is “designated as an Environmental Constraint Area” but “Guidance on the developable limit has been informed by an Environmental Impact Study completed in February 2024”. That is,… Read complete articleRFP Issued for Development of Old CDCI West Playing Fields

Town gives update on 310 Division

John Draper

At the Council meeting on 31 January, Council asked staff to report back on the situation at 310 Division Street.  Brent Larmer has now written a 25 page report with considerable detail on what’s happening.  There are also 4 draft bylaws to be approved which would implement some of the changes recommended – notably amendments to the “nuisance” by-law to prohibit consumption of controlled or illegal substances in public places.  The report talks about Transition House and the ongoing discussions with the County about various aspects (but not yet with Transition House) .  As Brent says, although looking after homelessness people is the responsibility of the County, there is a large impact on the Town.  There is only one such… Read complete articleTown gives update on 310 Division

Cobourg Police Want New Facility

John Draper

About a year ago, the County decided to look into the idea of a Northumberland Police Force to replace the current Policing by the OPP, Cobourg and Port Hope Police forces. At the time Cobourg’s Mayor Lucas Cleveland suggested that one possible transition would be to start with merging the Port Hope and Cobourg Police forces. Also around the same time, Cobourg Police issued an RFP to assess whether the current building needed to be changed. That study has now been completed and will be provided to the Police Board at their meeting on February 20.  The recommendation is that a new building should be built at a new location for approx. $34M – and that’s assuming there’s no amalgamation with… Read complete articleCobourg Police Want New Facility

Review of Selected Major Projects

John Draper

At a recent Council meeting, Director of Planning Anne Taylor Scott issued her second annual report on activity in her department – it’s called “2023 Growth Trends Report – Planning & Building Departments”. Anne notes that a full complement of planning staff would be 6 people but there are currently 3 vacancies – that includes Rob Franklin who is on a 12 month leave of absence. Her report makes it clear that her department has been very busy in 2023 with 138 new applications and 141 approvals. They ranged from Heritage Permit applications to Official plan amendments. One big change is the public availability of the Development Dashboard based on the Town’s GIS data – this allows the public to… Read complete articleReview of Selected Major Projects